Wood and O'Shea's special bond

Mum's the word when Chris Wood faces Dara O'Shea at the City Ground on Saturday.

The Ipswich defender and Nottingham Forest striker Wood never played with each other but share a special bond.

They were at West Brom and Burnley at different times but Republic of Ireland international O'Shea lived with Wood's parents, Julie and Grant, when he was a young player at the Baggies.

The couple offered Baggies players digs while they were living away from their own homes.

It meant Wood would return home and, on occasion, find O'Shea - who joined Ipswich from Burnley in the summer - relaxing in the living room.

He said: "A couple of times! Unfortunately, I was never too close to Birmingham the times he was there. I was at other clubs across the country. It worked well for Dara and my parents and they have stayed in contact, at least at parent level with his mum and dad.

"It was a nice way to give back and feel part of the club. They've had a number of boys and one of those was Dara, who's done extremely well over the years. He did well at West Brom, when he went to Burnley and now at Ipswich.

"Mum and dad are extremely nice to take in players as digs parents. It's a great way to give back to a club which gave me a huge stepping stone in my career. They took a big chance on a Kiwi boy from New Zealand."